General Chat

Had a friend here for an hour in the conservatory with double doors wide open (It was quite chilly as the wind is up) socially distant by about 1.5 metres for a coffee and chat. It was so good to have a laugh and feel normal, hopefully we will be ok, we have both had our first vaccine dose.

After she left I have just been clearing two large bags of rubbish from down the side of the house so Charles can get there. He did say he would clear it but I thought he would be able to get on more quickly if I did it for him. I can't believe how much real junk was shoved there. T was good at doing jobs but kept everything that should be thrown away. At the moment I have put loads of stuff to be kept in the greenhouse so can't move in there now. one job always creates several others.

Hope the gas pipes are being done now gill.

Oh has broken my washing up bowl on the corner.

Oh no Mel ,less pocket money for him this week :-D

Hope you got your jab ok Gill and the gas pipes are now in .

Sun's been shining this afternoon but it's still cold out .

AnnG I bet it was nice to have a friend in for a chat ,it will have broken your day up .

No Frank again ,hope he's OK

How on earth did your OH manage to break your washing up bowl Mel? Did you send him to the naughty step?

That was nice having a friend to visit AnnG - a little bit of normality for a change and it probably did you good to have someone to chat to and laugh with.

Mandy, I'm sorry to hear you have a pain in your side and hope it is feeling much better today.

Did you get your jab Gill? Did you have to go far for it or was it at your local GP like ours? I hope you don't have any side effects but, if you do, they won't last for long and it will be worth it to get a bit of protection. OH and I had nothing worse than a sore arm for a couple of days. Did your builders turn up to look at the work needed, and how far did the gas people get with the pipework? It's a lot of work but it's quite exciting getting your new home as you want it to be, and you'll enjoy planning the garden.

Now, where's Frank? I hope he's OK and enjoying all his books.

I've had quite a busy day again. This morning was very cloudy and quite chilly so I got on with some jobs inside. I took the hob of my cooker to bits and gave it a really good clean, not before time. It's quite a big range type cooker and the hob has five burners and a warming plate so it took me a while. When I put it back together one of the burners wouldn't light. I must have taken that burner apart and put it back together 4 or 5 times without getting it going. OH had a go and it wouldn't work for him either so I thought I would have to call someone in. Tonight when I was cooking our dinner I tried again and suddenly it was OK again.

After finishing the hob, I did all the ironing. Then I rang the DVLA about the refund of my brother's car tax and got straight through to the man who had written to me, which was a surprise.

This afternoon OH was walking from the kitchen to the lounge with 2 mugs of tea which he had overfilled so he slopped a bit on the floor. Instead of going back to the kitchen and putting the mugs on the work surface he put them on the hall floor while he went to get a cloth. I expect you've already guessed the rest. Yes, Mr Clumsy managed to knock them over so the hall was awash with tea. Luckily our hall is tiled rather than carpeted so easy to mop up which OH did. He was just going back to the kitchen when I pointed out to him that the tea would have flowed under our big long-case clock and we would have to move it. It doesn't really like being moved but we couldn't leave it so he pulled it out from the wall as carefully as he could and mopped the floor underneath but you should have seen the fluff and cobwebs behind that clock. So out came the cordless vac. and the dusters for a cleaning job. While all this was happening a delivery of plants he had ordered arrived. When he eventually took them out of the boxes one was missing so that meant an email to the nursery.

It has just been one of those days. Life in this household is seldom dull! I am shattered now and might be going to bed early with a book. Sleep well, sweet dreams everyone.

I thought i had another one but when I found it it was also broken on the corner. He was the last one to move the bowl when he wanted to wash a brush out. I had just cleaned the sink too and thought I would do the bowl later.

EDIT typed this way before dinner and did'nt post it.

Morning all

Dry but very grey and overcast outside. There doesn’t look as though there is much of a breeze so hopefully it’s not too cold. I’m not sure what I’ll do today, probably a bit of hoovering and maybe clean a couple of windows. They sure need a clean. I might give my hairdresser a ring and see if she is taking appointments for when she reopens. My shaggy head needs something done to it.

Have a nice day whatever you are doing.

good morning Same weather here Vera and 10 degrees outside.

I have been up ages and have the bedding in the drier. Had to get ahead as Charles should be here at 10 to start work, I am so hoping that he can get the garage door open for me.

Not sure what I will do, although dry it doesn't call me to the garden to do more weeding so I may just fiddle around indoors. I did clear as much as possible of the junk down the side of the house so hoping that Charles willl manage access to it ok. Actually that is his job, to improve the access for me.

I too wondered how your OH managed to actually break the bowl they are pretty well indestructable. The one I have only cost £1 in The Range last June/July.

I hate cleaning any part of cookers and that seemed a bit of a job Vera.
Oh dear and your OH up to his party tricks again. At least you will now have an ultra clean floor (not that it was not clean before of course)

Gill we are all agog waiting to here the next chapter in the gas pipe saga.

Morning Vera and Anng and all,

Weathers about the same here overcast but dry and not a great deal of wind it says its 12 degrees out there.

I think I bought the bowl in either the facory shop or Poundland and I bought two at the time as I liked the design. Have it ages . I think what he did was put the bowl in the sink and it had a lrage plate in it and was three quarters full of water. He probably picked it up with one hand and it crashed into the sink on its corner.

Anywy a new one is coming on Saturdayish and its ok for now.

I too have some ironing to do and perhaps that wikll get done today or maybe not as the sun is just trying to come out here so it may be out to the garden instead.

Hope you all slept well and that we hear from Frank today to know he's ok. <3

Good morning to all you lovely people, Thanks for worrying about me. I haven't been in a good place the passed few days. I am having a lot of pain down my right side, from my neck to my hips. I can't think of anything I have done to cause it, but it's getting on my nerves now.

I haven't attempted going out on the scooter yet. I did put it on charge yesterday, with the help of Jonathan. (NUMBER FOUR SON) He has offered to walk with me when I do go out on it.

Nothing to report from this end, I haven't heard from Harvey or Conrad. Simon rang yesterday to see that we were O.K. and offered to come over a come out with me when I feel like going on the scooter.


I hope you are all well, see you later. xxxx

Good to know you are ok Frank you know we worry about you a lot. <3 Hope you can get out on the scooter soon to have a go even if its just up and down the road on the pavement of course. Its nice of Jonathon to say he will go with you. You have very good neighbours willing to help in all ways. <3

Well it must have rained a bit in the night as there's water in my wheelbarrow that was'nt there yesterday and some of the road is wet. Just been out and fed the fish and the sun was quite warm on my face as I looked at the fish feeding.

They say showers for today so lets hoep they are wrong. :-)

I am really thinking about cutting my hair as it is now so long I can hardly reach it with my long handled comb and have to pull the rest through it to get to the very thin ends. I may cut about 2 foot off it and it will look thicker then.

I have just been told by Amazon my bowl is not coming until 30th of this month so even longer to wait with a broken bowl!

Afternoon All,

Just lost my post in the ether!!!!!

I had a bad night sleepwise and was still awake at 5.00am, so I got up and made a COT. I nodded off then but was soon woken by the alarm for me to get up and shower ready for the painting lesson at 9.00am. At least the shower woke me up a bit and tamed my 'bush' of wispy hair! We painted the nice cottage today with emphasis on less detail, which I find really difficult to do! The teacher seems to have enjoyed our group as much as we have and again the gallery of our paintings and different interpretations was interesting to see. She lives just outside York in a small village and told us she has a small holiday let and told us where she advertises it. I thought it would be a good idea for an overnight stay if we went to Scotland which I want to do some time to ride on the Highland railways.

Sorry your side is still giving you trouble Frank. Maybe some warmer weather will ease it for you. What lovely neighbours you have with Johnathan offering to walk with you on the scooter.

Are you going to bite the bullet and cut your hair this time Mel? It would be lighter and seem thicker as you say and save a bit of shampoo! :-D It's a shame your OH broke your bowl and it looks like a bit longer wait for the new one. I wish the sink bowl here was a bit smaller like I had in my old house as I didn't often need a bowl then!

I hope Gill has her pipes laid now and that she has had some joy and responses from some builders. I hope the jab was ok too. I wonder if Sandra is in the new flat now and collecting some furniture together.

Be careful AnnG, as 2 metres, is the minimum distance. It must have been nice to see your friend, but even after vaccines you can still have and transmit the virus even if you have no symptoms. You don't want to risk passing it to your daughter next month if she's coming early in the month. I wonder how Charles got on with the garage mechanism and if he could fix it. Is there only the up and over door or do you have another door as well, I must confess the other side of our bungalow has a narrow strip with gate at each end and that has rubbish and 'might be useful' things stacked along there.

They have had to close one of the city schools again here till after Easter due to a rise in infections again. Parents have had to be written to to ask them not to gather in parks after school with their children as well. A dog walker reported seeing over hundred together with no social distancing. :-S

Vera, OH walked into me with his COT yesterday and it spilled everywhere. I was standing still and told me off for not looking where I was going, so I had to put him right didn't I. I have a hob that needs the aluminium bits giving a good clean.......how are you fixed? Windows too, you are jogging my conscience with the jobs I need to do! :-S How is the foot now?

OMG four posts from Annx.

I am just going out in the shed again. I have been out there but had to come in for a wee.

Good to hear from you Frank. That Jonathan sounds a treasure, he always seems willing to help out.

We have just too many windows in this house! I cleaned the windows in the lounge, including the big patio doors, the kitchen and the utility and then decided that was enough for one day. I then had a shower and did a couple of odd jobs and had lunch. I was just about to drink a cup of tea when my mobile went and it was my neighbour, who chatted for a good 30 minutes. I poured my cold tea away and poured myself a slightly stewed but still hot one from the pot when the landline rang. This time it was a cousin. Another 30 minutes later and I poured my cold tea down the sink again, boiled a kettle and put a tea bag in a mug and this time I got it drunk :-)

I have found a new use for GR - as evidence ;-) Earlier today OH and I had a "discussion" about a couple of sedum plants that he swore blind he had brought home from the garden centre and planted in their current position a couple of years ago. I maintained he had moved them to that position from where I had planted them. Then I remembered doing a post about it on the garden thread. I found it easily enough and have copied and pasted a bit of it below, from 22nd March 2019:

"Himself took out the lavender and planted the campanula and found he had a couple more than he needed. Of course, being the man he is it didn’t cross his mind to ask me what I wanted done with them.

Me: So what have you done with them?
Him: Put them in that little patch beside the tree
Me: But there’s a sedum in there
Him: Oh, I moved that
Me: Where have you moved it to?
Him: Over the back by that other one.
Me: There isn’t any room there
Him: I made room

At that point I decided to give up while I was still sane. I think I would rather not know how he has made room but all this moving stuff around is making a nonsense of my colour schemes "

One up to me I think :-D

EDIT: Missed you there Ann. Are you sure your OH and mine aren't twins. They were certainly made in the same mould!

I have just measured it and it was more like 1.78 metres. She doesn't go anywhere and neither do I and I was a lot further away than I was at the hearing clinic. to my feeling, we can't go on for ever standing two metres which is about 7 foot away from people having a conversation, we would all be hoarse with shouting. I have enough in my life at the moment to make it even more fraught. And daughter went to the garden centre this afternoon and saw Inara last week so is more likely to catch it from others than from me. Actually just had another look as to where my chair was, it was a bit further than that and we were not face to face, I was diagonally across from her with the open door behind me blowing the wind in.

Vera, you talking about cleaning windows made me have a go at mine so I cleaned two of the kitchen ones, I couldn't do the third (Three windows across behind the sink unit). as I had just sorted out all the orchids, in the hope of reviving them, they have been neglected since Tony went into hospital. They are mine not his but I just wasn't interested. I think I may have lost them but we will see.I also cleaned the spare bedroom and bathroom windows and a couple of mirrors.

Charles then turned up and the garage opened first time but he did punch the top corner before turning the key. He and his young helper were here three and a half hours and they have put up a very useful bigger than it was, shelter down the side of the house. Now of course I can get to it I can see that the shelf. there could also do with replacing.The rail down from the lawn to the patio is a really strong chunky one, it needs sanding but Lyn and I can do that when she comes, it will certainly hold a lot of weight. He is coming to measure up the conservatory roof next week to see about a polypropaline roof to replace the glass one.that I have. And also to look at the trap door into the loft.

So you have all been busy cleaning and I hav'nt done any HW today apart from make the bed this morning.

I have cleared around the back door and washed pots and pot trays and all my spare pegs that oh has amanged to get ciggy ash all over as I left them outside the back door. So they are all dry now and going to be put in a big plastic box . Put away some things in the shed that were also outside the back door and done a little sweepiing outside my shed.

Sowed Honesty, Statis and potted up 4 Heucheras that I have had indoors as they had vine weevils in their pots so I took them out and washed all the soil off and they have been in the kitchen in jam jars all winter to the side of the sink. So I am happy with what I have done today.

I wonder how Gill has got on with having her jab and the gas men putting the pipes in.

I forgot I also dusted my bedroom and dusted and cleaned the lounge and dining room end.

Saying night night now hope you all sleep well tonight.

good morning all, sunny at the moment but windy and lots of clouds, so might be some rain later.

Must run my car later, even if I don't take it anywhere.

Other than that, not sure what I will be doing,, weeding if it stays dry I suppose, still half the garden left to do.